The King of Fighters '98 UMFE/Joe Higashi

Introduction

Joe is primarily a midrange zoner with a good projectile and nice buttons to control space with. Up close he has some nice pressure strings to annoy the opponent with and a few mixup options as well such as an untechable throw and an instant overhead. In advanced mode Joe gets some nice confirms into his qcf,hcf+P super and in extra mode he gets really damaging quick max combos when near the corner. So Joe wants to use his space control and pressure strings to push the opponent towards the corner where his pressure is even stronger and his combo damage is greater. Joes weaknesses is his floaty hop and his fairly slow movement speed.

Normals

Standing

• st.A : standard jab. Can be used to stop hops but good timing is required as it only has 2 active frames. Chainable. whiffs on low crouchers.

• st.B : a kick with good reach that is useful for poking. Not chainable.

• st.C : a decent close range poke that hits a similar space to his st.B but a bit higher up making it better against hops. not cancelable.

• st.D : it has a nice hitbox that is excellent against hops and grounded opponents, though it does have a lot of recovery. Not cancelable.

Close

• cl.A : a quick close jab, cancelable and chainable.

• cl.B : same as st.B

• cl.C : Excellent normal because it's active on the third frame making it Joes quickest button. Staple tool in his combos and blockstrings.

• cl.D : Same as st.D

Crouching

• cr.A : a standard crouching jab. Chainable. Cancelable.

• cr.B : it has good reach for a cr.B and is your only option for a low combo starter. Chainable, not cancelable.

• cr.C : Fairly fast and good to use in combos and frame traps. Cancelable.

• cr. D: has nice reach but is on the slower side for sweeps. hit, and whiff cancelable.

Jumping

• j.A : his fastest jumping normal that has a good hitbox for air to airs. Use it when you don't think the other buttons will come out fast enough.

• j.B : long range and a nice hitbox for air to airs. It has a lot of active frames.

• j.C : a good jump in button that also has a lot of active frames.

• j.D : this is another good jump in button. It can be used for instant overheads and crossups.

CD Attacks

• st.CD : this move has a lot of startup, a lot of recovery and only 2 active frames. It has low invulnerability right before the active frames through most of the recovery frames. Hit and Whiff cancelable.

• j.CD : Joe does a slower version of his j.B. Good for air to airs and can hit low crouchers with the correct spacing and timing, good jump in choice for pressure.

Throws

Knees of Hell: b/f + C

• Hold throw, not techable.

• At most Joe does 4 knee strikes but the opponent can mash to get out sooner, though the Joe player can countermash to counteract this.

• It's the preferred throw option since the opponent cannot tech it to escape.

• causes soft knockdown.

Leg Throw: b/f + D

Regular techable throw.

• Joe does a backflip and slams the opponent down behind him sending them away almost full screen.

• Causes soft knockdown.

Command Moves

Low Kick: f + B

• Joe does a forward kick that does not hit low despite the name.

• staple tool in both combos and pressure since you can cancel into it from most of your normals and you can special/super cancel out of it.

• It's also Joes furthest ranged poke and it goes over low moves nicely.

• unsafe on block if you don't cancel into something.

• The move is the same both done raw and cancelled into.

Sliding: df + B

• a low hitting slide that will go under every air travelling projectile in the game.

• completely safe on block at 0 frame advantage both when done raw and cancelled into making it a great tool to close the gap at closer ranges and when you've pushed yourself out with a blockstring.

• leaves the opponent standing on hit.

Special Moves

TNT Punch: tap A/C repeatedly

• Joe does a series of 10 punches while walking forwards.

• One of Joes main combo tools as it will combo from both lights and heavies.

• You can input either of the followups both on whiff and contact.

• unsafe on block unless you cancel into his qcf+A followup.

• try to avoid doing this move on block as they can punish it by guard cancelling or simply waiting for the followup and dealing with it.

>TNT Punch Finisher: qcf + A/C

• A version is an overhead followup.

• A version is safe on block.

• A version is not a true blockstring on block which means that it can be reversaled through.

• C version is a mid hitting knockdown attack.

• unsafe on block.

Hurricane Upper: hcf + A/C

• a tall projectile. A version goes about half screen, D version sends out two projectiles instead of just 1.

• the tornados are very tall and hard to jump over.

• A version is good to end blockstrings with and used as a midscreen poke.

• C is good to mix up with the A version as the second projectile can hit people trying to avoid the first one.

• C version can be punished easily by rolling through the second projectile.

Tiger Kick: dp + B/D

• Joes dp sends him flying into the air with a knee strike.

• B version is faster and has invulnerability on startup that ends before the first active frame. D version is slower but has invulnerability on startup as well as the 3 first active frames of the move.

• Both are good to use as anti airs when you're sure they're going to hit.

• D version can be used as a reversal since it has a large amount of invulnerability frames.

• Both moves are very unsafe on block or whiff.

• causes soft knockdown.

Ougon no Kakato: qcb + B/D

• an arching kick. B version goes about half screen and D version goes 3/4 of the screen.

• Has a lot of startup but has a good hitbox that can hit people in the air and on the ground.

• a fairly safe way to approach the enemy as it's hard to punish on block.

• you can juggle after it on an aerial hit.

Slash Kick: hcf + B/D

• A horizontally flying kick.

• It is your main combo ender for damage.

• can be good to throw out to whiff punish things or catch forward movement

• it is very unsafe on block or whiff making it risky to just throw out.

• causes soft knockdown.

• A version travels about 1/2 of the screen while D version travels about 3/4s of the screen.

Desperation Moves

Explosive Hurricane Tiger Heel: qcf, hcb + A/C

Joe does a series of punches ending in a flying knee and a hit that slams the opponent to the ground.

• This super does good damage and has good forwards travel making it excellent to combo into.

• it's unsafe on block and whiff so only do it on hit.

• it has very fast startup so it could also be used as a punish.

• Max version does more hits and more damage.

• causes hard knockdown.

Screw Upper: qcf qcf + A/C

• Joe makes a giant tornado in front of him. This move has a multitude of uses.

• It can be used to combo from lights.

• it's got good anti airing potential.

• it's one of his better moves for dealing some chip damage.

• Both versions of the move are almost the same. they both combo the same way, they both both have similar frame data but they travel a little bit differently with the A version moving a bit faster and has slightly longer reach and the C version moving slower with less horizontal travel.

• Fairly safe on block.

• causes soft knockdown.

Combos

• j.C, cl.C, f+B, hcf+K

• cr.B, cr.A, [P]~qcf+P

• qcb+B (Air Hit), hcf+B

Special Cancel

• cr.B, cr.A, qcf hcb+P

Quick Max

• j.C, cr.A, (QM) cl.C, f+B, qcf hcf+P

• cr.B, cr.A, [A]~qcf+C, [QM] [C]～qcf+C, hcf+K

Videos

King of Fighters 98 UM FE: Joe Guide by Mash It Out